The design of storefront signage, packaging and stickers from everyday Indonesian life served as the foundation for the visual identity through which the Type Directors Club (TDC) is inviting creatives to enter this year’s global typography competition. Behind the campaign Be Bold, Be Seen (All Characters Welcome) is Grafis Nusantara, a Jakarta-based platform dedicated to archiving vintage Indonesian labels and stickers. Their approach accompanies changes to the TDC73 competition itself, which this year introduces clearer categories and the ability to represent different writing systems more precisely.
Work can still be entered across three disciplines: Communication Design, Lettering and Type Design. The organizers have revised the categories within them, simplified their names and added examples of work that fits each category. Entrants can now also select the specific writing systems used in their work to represent its linguistic and typographic content more accurately.
The diversity of typographic expression is also visible in the campaign. Grafis Nusantara combined typefaces rooted in local commercial signage, packaging and everyday forms of visual communication with handcrafted elements and contrasting colors. One source of inspiration was their own book featuring Indonesian stickers from the archive, which won Type-High Bronze in the Communication Design discipline at TDC72.
The animations preserve the basic composition of these materials while individual elements move, bounce, rotate or gradually reveal themselves. Signage, stickers, packaging and illustrated objects are thus incorporated into a system that adapts to different campaign formats.
Claudia Novreica, Writer and Researcher at Grafis Nusantara, explains that the team is interested in how design exists outside the studio, often in entirely ordinary places. They wanted to bring that perspective into the competition’s communications, representing different voices and forms of expression within the typography community. For them, the call to be bold also means a willingness among creatives to publicly present their own ideas and perspectives.
The competition regularly receives entries from more than 60 countries, and the organizers offer regional discounts on entry fees. The early entry deadline for digital and physical work is January 22, 2027. This is followed by the regular deadline on February 12 and the final deadline on March 5, 2027, with fees increasing.
The Jury Presidents will be announced in November, with the full jury revealed in January 2027. The three juries will include experts in Arabic and Cyrillic scripts, Indic scripts, Chinese, Japanese and Korean scripts, Thai and African scripts, ensuring that work is judged by people with an appropriate understanding of its specific characteristics.
The recipients of Best of Discipline honors, Type-High awards and Certificates of Merit will be announced in May 2027. This is the second year in which TDC will present physical Type-High Gold, Silver and Bronze awards, designed and named by Graham Clifford, a longtime collaborator and life member of the organization.
Winning work will be presented through eight traveling exhibitions at museums, schools and design organizations around the world, as well as on the digital channels of TDC and The One Club for Creativity. Results also earn points toward the Global Creative Rankings, alongside results from The One Show, ADC Annual Awards, ADCE and ONE Asia Creative Awards.
Details about categories, eligibility requirements and fees are available on the TDC73 entry site.
